burnt honey & wholemeal honey cake

layers of wholemeal burnt honey cake sandwiched with lightly sweetened sour cream

it’s a penny’s kitchen take on medovik, or russian honey cake

there’s crisp, biscuity wholemeal cake layers sweetened with honey layered with sour cream and left to mingle overnight so the cake layers soak up the filling, much like a tiramisu or trifle

the combination of wholemeal wheat with honey is honestly inspired by having honey on wholemeal rusks at italian hotel breakfasts - it’s such a cozy, wholesome flavour combination

i also love adding burnt honey to recipes (see exhibit a, exhibit b, exhibit c) and find it brings a lovely bitter edge to recipes that can veer a little one-dimensionally sweet

this recipe needs to be started a day ahead

serves 6-8

ingredients

burnt honey cake

75g honey

50g butter

75g caster sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp cinnamon

225g self-raising wholemeal flour

sour cream filling

300mL full-fat sour cream, at room temperature

50g caster sugar

1 tsp honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch salt

method

burnt honey cake

add the honey (75g) to a medium saucepan and bring to the boil

cook, stirring occasionally, for three to five minutes or until the honey is browned and starts to smoke

remove from the heat and immediately stir in the butter (50g) and sugar (75g)

set aside to cool enough to not cook the eggs

once only a little warm, add the eggs (2) and stir together thoroughly

sift in the cinnamon (1 tsp) and wholemeal flour (225g) and fold until just combined into a soft, pliable dough

if too warm to work with, cover and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes

preheat the oven to 180°C

divide the dough into six even portions (about 83g each if being precise)

working with one dough ball at a time, place on a lined baking tray and roll out to a rectangle about 10 x 15cm

bake for 7 minutes

while the first layer bakes, roll out and prepare the next dough ball

repeat with the remaining dough balls until you have six roughly-even sized cake rectangles all baked off and cooling

let cool completely while you prepare the sour cream filling

sour cream filling

beat together the sour cream (300mL), sugar (50g), honey (1 tsp), vanilla (1 tsp), and a pinch of salt until smooth and creamy

assembly

once the cake layers have completely cooled, trim the edges of the cakes to the same dimensions

tip: start with your smallest cake layer, trim into a rectangle then use this piece as a template, laying it on top of the other layers and cutting to size

place the trimmed edges aside on a baking tray and let crisp up in the warm (but off) oven

place one cake layer on your serving plate and spread 1/6 (about 53g) of the sour cream filling evenly over the top

place the next cake layer on top and press down gently to stick them together

repeat with the remaining layers of cake and filling, making sure to spread the filling all the way to the edges

top the cake with the final portion of filling and smooth the top and sides

crush or blend the crisped cake edges and sprinkle over the top of the cake

transfer to the fridge overnight to set up and allow the sour cream to soak into the biscuity-cake layers

serve in 1 inch slices, cleaning your knife between cuts for the smoothest slice

store any leftovers (hah!) in the fridge